Variety’s Cynthia Littleton writes that former NBC News President Andrew Lack is in talks to return to the network in some capacity…

Former NBC News president Andrew Lack is in negotiations to return to a top post at the news division in a management shakeup following the debacle that led to the suspension of “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams and other recent missteps by the news wing.

The discussions are in the early stages, but Lack is expected to return in a top role, if not the top job, overseeing NBCUniversal’s news operations: NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. Pat Fili-Krushel, who has headed NBCUniversal News Group as chairman since 2012, may move to a different position within NBCUniversal.

We could idly speculate about this but I’m going to hold off until there’s actual news here…like an NBC press release announcing the hire…before I start opining.

I don’t remember exactly how many blog posts I put up regarding Brian Williams’ scandal. Was it ten? Fifteen? More? I don’t remember how many times I’ve written about O’Reilly but it was an order of magnitude less. There are reasons for that…

First, lets get the obvious out of the way. This is a scandal for Bill O’Reilly. It’s not a scandal that’s going to cause him to get fired. It never could be. Anybody, regardless of political affiliation, who knows anything about his show knows what they’re going to get. Whatever that may be, and it’s going to be different depending on your POV, most would agree it’s not a detached recounting of the news of the day. You tune in to O’Reilly to hear his opinions. You tune in to Brian Williams to hear the news. The bar for career ending scandal therefore is significantly higher for O’Reilly than it was for Williams. Put another way, the small number of anecdotes that have come out regarding O’Reilly would have probably sunk Williams if they had been about him.

But it’s still a scandal for O’Reilly because, opinion host or not, it goes straight to his character…but not just the details of the scandal itself but how O’Reilly has addressed the charges.

I gave him a pass on the original Falklands story. It was only one incident after all. The fact that one of his accusers had penned an anti-FNC rant on his Facebook page undermined his argument in terms of raising questions about his motivation.

But when we got to the nun shooting story, O’Reilly lost me. He lost me because of his explanation. Saying that he was referring to pictures of nuns being shot is just too big a dodge to accept at face value. If that was indeed the case O’Reilly should have said, “I was referring to pictures and I should have included that detail and that error was mine.” He did nothing of the kind. Instead his explanation did two things. First, it turned O’Reilly’s explanation from one of explaining what he meant to putting the onus on the reader/viewer to figure out what O’Reilly meant without knowing what the parameters were. That kind of defense is not one that can be sustained because it invites another round of questions. Second, it turned the story from questions regarding O’Reilly’s original reporting to questions regarding O’Reilly’s preposterous response to said questions regarding his reporting.

Then came the JFK book anecdote and all the supporting evidence which makes it extremely difficult to conclude anything other than O’Reilly’s story can’t stand up.

Now it’s no longer just an isolated Falklands incident. The Falklands, dead nuns, O’Reilly saying he was somewhere at a specific point in time when the evidence strongly contradicts it…this is a pattern. You can’t ignore a pattern. You have to pay attention.

So, I believe that the evidence paints a picture of a less than accurate O’Reilly. In my mind, he got caught. That some of the charges came from people and organizations with more than a passing interest in seeing O’Reilly in trouble is noteworthy but only to a point. That point is when O’Reilly can’t credibly shoot down the charges. We have reached that point, if not with the nun story than certainly with the Mohrenschildt suicide story.

For inexplicable reasons, some have painted this as a case of “one of theirs got it so now they go after one of ours”. That’s just plain laughable. First of all, the Right never went after Williams…the MSM did. So how “they go after one of ours” because “we got one of theirs” when “we” never “got one of theirs”…”they” did? Second, those who have been digging up stuff on O’Reilly, specifically Media Matters, doesn’t view Williams as “one of theirs”…certainly not anywhere close to the way the Right is associating O’Reilly as “one of ours”. Though even that argument that O’Reilly is considered “one of ours” by the Right doesn’t exactly square with reality either. I know a lot of Conservatives who don’t think O’Reilly is one of theirs. Either way the idea that this is a tit for tat revenge thing is just not in the realm of the believable.

But, even though I think they got O’Reilly dead to rights here, I have to ask the obvious question: What did you expect?

So that’s why O’Reilly’s scandal doesn’t interest me…because it falls into a category which is part and parcel of the opinion host. I discount it precisely because it is O’Reilly. Now, if the scandal fell outside of the opinion realm…if it was a case of O’Reilly embezzling FNC funds or getting caught doing drugs…that would be a different matter because those are not things we associate with opinion hosts.

But this isn’t anything like that. It’s an opinion host playing fast and loose with the truth. I really could care less.

NEW YORK – March 2, 2015 – Today the NBCUniversal News Group and Mika Brzezinski, the co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” announced new details of their upcoming “Know Your Value” nationwide tour, including the dates of the five initial live workshop events, the start of ticket sales for each event, and the launch of a new interactive contest, which will allow women the chance to enter and win $10,000 to further their lives and careers.

Last month, NBCUniversal and Brzezinski unveiled this new partnership which builds on Brzezinski’s New York Times bestselling book and brand “Knowing Your Value.” The tour, which will be part of a full-year program, will begin in Philadelphia on April 10th at the Loews Hotel; Washington, D.C. on May 15th at the Marriott Marquis; Chicago on September 25th; Boston on October 23rd; and Orlando on November 20th. Venue locations for the latter dates will be released in the coming weeks. The public can purchase tickets today by clicking here.Continue reading →

The Resident’s Rory Winston profiles Jamie Colby. It’s part of FBN’s push to highlight its hit “Strange Inheritance”, a show I have watched quite a bit and will continue to do so. There have been a lot of Colby profiles now and I haven’t noted them all but I have seen a recurring theme in some of them. And it re-appears here…

When the concept for Strange Inheritance came along both she and the network saw the show as a perfect fit for her. Jamie had the interdisciplinary background to make it work.

She may have had the interdisciplinary background to make it work but this is not an entirely accurate recounting of how this show originally came together. We have to go back a year ago to see why…

Fox Business Network has announced the development of an original alternative primetime program, “Strange Inheritance,” that will debut later this year. The half-hour documentary show, hosted by Tracy Byrnes, will showcase real-life stories of unconventional inheritances.

It wasn’t until later, when Byrnes had to withdraw from hosting the show, that Colby was named to host it.

Naturally, FBN isn’t going to want to play up the fact that Strange Inheritance was originally someone else’s show, especially since it’s a hit. If I was them I wouldn’t. So I can’t fault them for that. I can fault sloppy writers not doing their homework though. If you’re going to get into how this show came together, get it right.

New Day Outperforms MSNBC’s Morning Joe Again; Tops by Largest Demo Margin Ever

MSNBC Sheds Viewers by Large Margins; Hits Decade Lows
Lost 55% of Primetime and 66% of Daytime Audience

CNN’s ratings momentum continued in February, with the network ranking #2 in cable news in total day in both total viewers and the demo 25-54, easily topping MSNBC. CNN also beat MSNBC once again in both M-Su and M-F primetime (demo 25-54) this month. The network has now outperformed MSNBC for eight straight months in total day (among both viewers and demo) and in M-Su/M-F prime (demo) — the longest streak across these dayparts in over six years (since November 2008).

CNN had big ratings gains this month, with all dayparts up significantly from year-ago levels, posting the largest growth in cable news. MSNBC continued to shed viewers, decreasing double-digits in all three key dayparts among P2+ and 25-54, posting the largest declines. CNN also posted the largest increases in daytime (9a-4p) among both total viewers and demo, while MSNBC daytime is down a whopping -66% to 36k in the demo, its lowest delivery in over 15 years.Continue reading →